In California water news today, Destructive snails are invading Bay Area waters. And nobody knows what to do; Dry lake bed in Mojave Desert a subject of debate; Before it turns to ‘Jello’, Embarcadero seawall may get an upgrade; Rare Dumbo octopus filmed in deep sea off Monterey Bay; Ventura County: Groundwater agency mulls multitude of allocation plans, postpones final decision; Dry and increasingly warm start to autumn in California
In the news today …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: Frazier urges Delta council to reject tunnels project certification; Ukiah water official calls Potter Valley Project a ‘huge’ deal for Ukiah Valley and beyond; Project focuses on forest thinning in the Mokelumne River watershed; and more …
- RESERVOIR AND WATER CONDITIONS for October 29
- CONSISTENCY DETERMINATION: DWR Finds Proposed North Delta Project Consistent with Delta Plan
Destructive snails are invading Bay Area waters. And nobody knows what to do: “The tiny black dots on the soggy leaf that Emily King plucked out of Mount Diablo Creek the other day did not look very threatening, but the UC Berkeley biologist knows well how looks can be deceiving. King, 25, has spent the past year and a half studying the smaller-than-tick-size specks, a dreaded sight for researchers familiar with what an infestation of New Zealand mud snails looks like. The otherworldly mollusks are among the most invasive alien species in the western United States and have recently spread into waterways in the Sierra and eight of the Bay Area’s nine counties. It is an invasion, no less, of voracious armored critters, and nobody can figure out how to stop them. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here: Destructive snails are invading Bay Area waters. And nobody knows what to do
Dry lake bed in Mojave Desert a subject of debate: “Cadiz, a water supply company, wants to pump out and sell 50,000 acre-feet of water from an aquifer under the Mojave Desert. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is trying to stop them. “It’s those aquifers that keep the plant life growing which nourish the animals — the bighorn sheep and the desert tortoises,” the California Democrat said at a news conference at the Whitewater Preserve in Riverside County. ... ” Read more from KABC here: Dry lake bed in Mojave subject of debate
Before it turns to ‘Jello’, Embarcadero seawall may get an upgrade: “In recent decades, San Franciscans have embraced the reborn Embarcadero waterfront as kind of front yard, and at noon on a weekday it crowds with tourists, skateboarders, entrepreneurs and other locals. But underneath wheels and feet, three and a half miles of seawall is cracking and crumbling, vulnerable to rising waters or a major earthquake. Proposition A would authorize a $425 million general obligation bond to shore up the aging seawall, most of the money needed for initial repairs to its weakest sections. ... ” Read more from KQED here: Before it turns to ‘Jello’, Embarcadero seawall may get an upgrade
Rare Dumbo octopus filmed in deep sea off Monterey Bay: “Getting an unusual glimpse a lovable deep-sea creature, marine scientists this week filmed a rarely seen Dumbo octopus far below the ocean waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The animal, which was swimming two miles below the surface near a dormant underwater volcano known as Davidson Seamount, takes its name from the large ear-like fins it has that are reminiscent of the young elephant in the 1941 animated Disney classic Dumbo. … ” Read more from the Monterey Herald here: Rare Dumbo octopus filmed in deep sea off Monterey Bay
Ventura County: Groundwater agency mulls multitude of allocation plans, postpones final decision: “A board that manages groundwater allocations made no final decisions on a pumping formula last week, but gave preliminary support to a proposal that restricts agricultural users. The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency considered a plan Wednesday that would allow agricultural uses to pump 56,000 acre-feet of water starting next year and municipal and industrial uses to pump 36,000 acre-feet, representing a 60 percent vs. 40 percent split between the two groups. … ” Read more from the Ventura County Star here: Ventura County: Groundwater agency mulls multitude of allocation plans, postpones final decision
Dry and increasingly warm start to autumn in California: Daniel Swain writes, “The first half of autumn has certainly gotten off to a dry start across most of California this year. There have been a couple of local exceptions–patchy regions along the immediate coast of NorCal, where shore-hugging rainbands just made it onshore a few weeks ago, and a broader swath of coastal SoCal, where a widespread and rather spectacular thunderstorm outbreak brought widespread wetting rains earlier this month. But elsewhere, things have been more or less bone dry–and even in places that saw recent precipitation, the dry and relatively warm autumn air has already dried things out considerably. Thus, most of California is running well below average to date in the precipitation department–with no significant rain on the horizon. But just how unusual are dry Octobers in California? … ” Read more from the California Weather Blog here: Dry and increasingly warm start to autumn in California
In commentary today …
Untangling the complexities of California’s Prop 3 water bond: Heather Cooley, Sonali Abraham, Sarah Diringer and Cora Kammeyer write, “On November 6, California voters will decide the fate of Proposition 3 (the Water Supply and Water Quality Act of 2018), which authorizes the sale of $8.9 billion in new general obligation bonds for water-related infrastructure and environmental projects. This includes funds – most of which would be distributed through grants – for various projects related to water supply, watershed health, flood management, groundwater, facility upgrades and fish and wildlife habitat. Many are confused about the bond, and numerous organizations have taken positions supporting or opposing it. We at the Pacific Institute, a California-based think-tank focused on water, are taking no formal position on Proposition 3, opting instead to offer the voting public some insights into its complexities. … ” Read more from Water Deeply here: Untangling the complexities of California’s Prop 3 water bond
More news and commentary in the weekend edition …
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
- RESERVOIR AND WATER CONDITIONS for October 29
- CONSISTENCY DETERMINATION: DWR Finds Proposed North Delta Project Consistent with Delta Plan
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About the Daily Digest: The Daily Digest is a collection of selected news articles, commentaries and editorials appearing in the mainstream press. Items are generally selected to follow the focus of the Notebook blog. The Daily Digest is published every weekday with a weekend edition posting on Sundays.
